Randy Krehbiel

Tulsa World Reporter

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol's removal of homeless encampments along state rights of way in Tulsa is primarily to prevent inhabitants from being struck by motor vehicles, OHP Lt. Mark Southall said Thursday.

Ordered by Gov. Kevin Stitt, reportedly at the behest of local businesses, Operation SAFE is being criticized as ineffective by local organizations that work with the unhoused.

"We never intended to solve the problem of homelessness," Southall said during a press conference at the site of a former encampment along the northbound U.S. 75 exit ramp to Peoria Avenue. "That was not the intent of this operation. The intent of this operation was to move these folks away from these dangerous highways and interstate systems."

Southall said automobile-ped

See Full Page